My CSA hell has been going on for years
Having just read the story about voluntary payments suddenly becoming arears I felt I had to write. It would be simply impossible for me to tell the whole story – but I’ll try and simplify it as best I can.
My husband has been paying his maintenance to his ex wife for the past 7 years without fail by standing order. He knew he had arrears of approx £2,500 incurred right at the start of the break up when he was in a very bad place, and for which he had come to an arrangement to pay an extra £100 per month on top of his normal payments to clear this in 2 years.
Last month we moved from our 2 up 2 down tiny house into a 3 bed semi – nothing palacial! In July, his 15 year old son came to live with us for the month following a nasty incident at his home involving my husband’s ex wife’s partner and herself (another story there too!) My husband had to pay his ex wife for this month, as it was deemed too short a time to be reassessed. So not only did he have to support his son with travel to school which was a long way etc etc – his ex wife STILL got to get the maintenance.
Anyway that’s nothing. It seemed that once the CSA had looked at his case they would have a good old go at him. He received a call from some ignorant imbecile at the CSA advising that he owed over £7,000 in arrears. I cannot begin to tell you what hell the past 6 weeks have been like following this. My husband had to leave work following this call as the person speaking to him would simply not listen. My husband (E) asked for a statement of payments to be sent to him as he did not believe it possible that he had suddenly incurred this amount of arrears. The CSA told him they didn’t have to do that. E argued that if they were demanding that amount of money from him he had a right to see how this had accrued. They simply refused.
Later on that afternoon, another person called to say that he didn’t in fact owe that money and his arrears were £2,300. He asked for a statement to be sent anyway and strangely enough got one a few days later. He thought that was the end of that. He received numerous calls and we in turn have written numerous letters of complaint and letters confirming details of conversations. (The CSA are VERY reluctant to put anything in writing!)
As we were moving, he asked to be reassessed as our mortgage would be increasing by £250 per month. During the next couple of weeks whenever he spoke to one of these horrendously ignorant, patronising and rude people at the CSA he was repeatedly told that he owed £7,000 arrears. They simply would not update the system, would not listen to him continued to cause untold stress. He was finally reassessed and his payments were reduced by £50 per month.
We moved on 1st October and within a couple of days he received a call from one of the most vile people ever. She told him that he had to clear the arrears – now. He asked (just out of interest) how much these were – £7,000!! He spent the next 20 minutes arguing with her to check the system as this was incorrect. She continued to insist he owed £7,000. My husband then called me at work for me to listen to what was going on. By this stage my husband was screaming at this woman. She then realised her error but said that the £2,300 needed paying, she was not prepared for him to pay £100 as agreed with a previous CSA employee. She wanted an EXTRA £100 PER WEEK on top of his reassessed payments. What the hell was the point of being reassessed! She told him to take out a loan as she had seen his credit report, she told him to pay on a credit card. She said if this was not paid she would go for a DOE and take up to 40% of his salary. When he said he may as well give the keys to our house back to the bank she said he should have thought about that before he moved! She has also asked for my details and if I work as this might help his case – help in what way I wonder! Needless to say he has not divulged these details and nor does he have to.
There is so much more to this story – BUT – we have written to our local MP – twice. We have told him the whole sorry story, enclosing the numerous copies of letters we had sent to the CSA about all the unbelievable things that had gone on and the outrageous way in which he had been treated. The MP wrote to the CSA on our behalf. Their response was totally unsatisfactory and the MP offered to contact them again. This complaint is now being handled. The vile woman referred to above has since spoken to my husband – you would not believe the change in attitude. She has told him that he can continue to pay by Standing Order. Nevertheless, my husband has borrowed the arrears from his mother and paid them in full – we could not live with the fear of the CSA continuing to harass and scare us anymore. It was destroying our lives and affecting our relationship.
One more thing that my husband is now fighting is the fact that 6 years ago – his ex wife told him that they had an outstanding life insurance policy worth £6,500 – if he signed the forms she would pay him half. Needless to say she kept the whole lot. He has been telling the CSA that she had received in excess of £3,000 as a voluntary payment but because she has said it wasn’t for “maintenance” – that suffices in their eyes. They believe her and not my husband. This was not part of the divorce settlement and she has never been asked by the CSA exactly WHAT the money was for. Why should they take the word of her over my husband. Why would he decide to GIVE her over £3,000 just for the sheer fun of it! The CSA cannot give a reasonable answer to any of his queries over this – in fact one (male) employee of the CSA said that the CSA were heavily biased against the father and he’d be interested to see how my husband got on with this as it’s not legislation that the CSA are governed by – it’s just guidelines. It is simply unfair that they take her word for it. So – she has now been paid the £2,300 in arrears and got to keep the whole £6,500 insurance policy as well.
We have written letter upon letter to these people and we will continue to fight until we get a satisfactory result. If they can offer a reasonable explanation as to why they chose to believe the her over him – then we’ll leave it there. But right now – the whole thing stinks.
We would happily offer help to anybody else who might need it – you have to have strength to deal with these people. We came close to just giving in and doing everything the CSA wanted just to escape the almost daily harassment, whilst at work, by these bullying, disgraceful people. That is what they want – they grind you down until all you want to do is scream and cry! They are inhuman in my opinion. I would rather chew glass than work for the CSA – I don’t know how they sleep at night.
Really, it is worth contacting your local MP – fight what is right – don’t let them do this to you if they are so obviously wrong. They will insist you owe money and if you don’t think you do, then insist on seeing a statement. You would not believe how many different figures have been thrown at my husband – and by so many different case workers – and each case worker seems to have the power to do and say whatever they want. There seems to be no consistency whatsoever. The system they have is frightening if they have so much contradicting information on your file – it’s no wonder such hideous mistakes are being made. One of their favourite lines has been “we have the law on our side and you can do nothing” – honestly, this has been said to my husband! This government body is basically corrupt and it’s outrageous that they are able to get away with what they do! God – I have to stop there because I’m rambling. This story does not cover half of what has gone though!
They are hell on earth – truly! All the best to anybody out there – don’t give up – don’t!
23 thoughts on “My CSA hell has been going on for years”
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I said after last week that I will not read anymore stories on this website as I am rock bottom already about our situation. However this morning after deciding I have had enough and want to walk away from the most wonderful man in the world I found myself clicking on to the site.
I know exactly how you feel and what you are going through. My partner was hit with a bill for £36,000 arrears! He changed job in 2005 and his salary is much less than what he was on in 2005. However they have kept the clock ticking and added up all the monies based on his 2005 wages.
Like you the case worker is unbelievable not to mention her manner and the things she said to my partner were disgusting, simular to you, she could see his credit rating and also told him to pay via his credit card.
We had no option but to get a Solicitor involved. He got nowhere and the case worker had the cheek to tell him that ‘he doesnt know what he is taking about’ The Solicitor was horrified and asked to see my partners file. We received the file and YIPPEEEEE there was the letter on the file to say my partner had left his employment in 2005. But you guessed it, they said it did not come from him it came from his previous employer and for that reason he must pay all that back money.
We have been fighting this over a year now and still getting nowhere. Like you his ex wife is a money grabber and MARRIED a man for money so he could get his stay here in the UK. Nobody wants to hear that…. and like you the stories get worse but I would be here all day telling them. They dont care they are only interested in destroying the mens lives.
We sent letters to the complaints department and guess what the case worker stopped them going there and said she was not passing them on that they are going ahead with their liability order and taking our home.
Now we have an MP involved (oh the money has now been reduced to £29,000) so we are waiting to see whats next.
I am glad to hear you got some positive news from your story but I cannot wait any longer I have given up the fight and want to walk away from the hole mess. They have destroyed our wonderful relationship and its me who is ill not his ex wife.
But at the same time, deep down, you want to stay with him because when he looks you in the eyes you know you’re the last thing holding him together. What an awful situation so many of us are in!
It’s obvious that the current system is ‘not fit for purpose’! It is riddled with corruption and collusion. They are all in on it, M.P.’s, ICE, PHSO. It is punishment for being a ‘so called’ absent parent.
As the initial posting said, it is easy to lie down and rollover when we recevie a shock or bombshell from this lot. You cannot trust them or believe anything that they say or do. They are on performance related pay and will stop at nothing to grab their ‘ xmas’ bonus, and make it to their ‘gold plated’ pensions!
Why are elected representatives standing back and allowing this to happen? They are breaching our rights to a family life, in Human rights and Civil Liberties.
The Inland revenue has in the last few months decided to write off millions of pounds of under payments. Why are those involved with the shambles known as CSA/CMEC being treated differently? It is their mistakes that cause the demand for back payment. That is discrimination, and the question that should be asked by all on here is ” why are we being treated differently to another taxpayer”?
I have written to and contacted all unsundry. It is a closed shop of compliancy at any cost. Pay by credit card! Sell your house. Who do these people think that they are?
Keep fighting and when you get turned down at one level go up to the next level and so on, until they get the message and hear your outrage at this shambles!
Well said ,, It's true the CSA only employ mindless idiots ,, any respectful person with an ounce of intelligence would not work for this worthless establishment. sooner the government realises this the better !!
iam on the other end,i can not get my money. i was owed money which they take out of my exs wage which they did and then it took me 3 months to get the money off them. again this month the money has not been sent to me. i did phone earlier and was told i had failed the securty questions and they would not speak to me . iam now waiting to see if my case worker will ring me back. i would not mind but iam on a low income and having csa knocked all benfits on the head so if the payment does not come on time then its hard to pull in a already tighted belt. i do agree about the workers at the csa, when trying to get my payment which was alot of money i rang everyweek on the date it should of been paid to me and was told to stop ringing them i would get a payment when it was sorted out. they held my money for 3 months. sometimes i wonder was it worth going to the csa in the first place??
well we did give up and now we have a huge mortgage just to pay a huge chunk off of the arrears they wil not budge on our arrears total either even though they were writing to wrong address (which we proved) and no housing costs were included. I also have come very close to walking away , like you lyn, but then why should they destroy the one good thing that we have left? everyday i tell myself that money isnt everything but its really hard this time of year when you want to just treat your kids at christmas.
They take £500 per month off me and my ex tells me she only sees £200….
legalised theft !!!!
They arnt allowed to profit, but you ask them for their accounts, they dont keep them. Thats fraud and a criminal offence.
Is 500 on a DOE if not just pay 200 if your x will back you up
I started out paying £180 per month then without warning they slapped it up, my fault for agreeing to DOE. 🙁
your story could be mine my hubby and i nearly split over the vile phone callls askin for cash and pay on credit card they knew what we had left available on cards and asked for my details there not my kids i got my own to support with no help from no one except myself work to jobs only way we got peace was for my hubby to go self employed,my hubby was payin £800 a month on a deo and they still wanted more we were left with nothin while the ex had another 4 kids with her new man live ina big fancy house and have there on buisness but we to be left with nothin to live on while they lord it up. no way we had enopugh and refused to answer the calls from then, we havent heard a thing in 3months and hope to never hear from them again, and might i add my husbands total payments to his ex are a whopping £35,000 since they split, and she aint gettin 1 more penny oh and the house they had together worth at least £100,000. shockin the way the treat people like cash machines when you want to pay they just take the piss and want more, what bout the ones that never pay they get left alone never to be chased like my ex . hope you get it sorted and your nightmare ends soon .
People STOP co-operating with these vile subhuman child abusers and treat them with the contempt they deserve.I do and have cost this agency many many tens of thousands of pounds far more than they could ever steal off me, if we all did that hey presto very quickly there would be NO child abuse agency !!!!!!!!Complain in writing about everything, appeal every decision,get your MP to send your case to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, only communicate with them in writing it is very exspensive and time consuming for them plus you then have evidence of there incompetence.
The Csa/Cmec is not interested in children, mothers and/or fathers. The thing was set up specifically set up to persecute fathers and their children. And that is exactly what they have done. And now they are harassing and threatening innocent fathers who've already paid because their accounts have not been updated and are completely fictitious. How many more fathers and children have to go on antidepressants etc? How many more fathers and children are we going to allow them to kill? Isn't enough, enough!!! Isn't it time to close down this bunch of child abusers and killers!!!
To date 70 fathers have been confirmed to have commited suicide as a direct consequence of dealing with this abhorrent mess ! HOW MANY MORE before enough is enough ?????????????????????
We have an agency here that is completely out of control, contravenes human rights Law both in the UK and Europe and is staffed by target driven weasels who bully, lie and cheat to people who suddenly find themselves in a vulnerable position faced by rude, savage uncaring idiots with excessive powers one would expect in a banana republic.
Rach thank you for you kind words but like you say it is very hard at this time of year.
The only thing that keeps me strong is that she (ex wife) may get money from him but she will never get him back. She had an affair and he walked away leaving her with all the bills paid for months after he left but of course that doesnt count.
I know money isnt everything but why these woman come after their ex after years (12 years in our case) and decide I want more money.
We just want to be left alone. He has no problem paying the maintenance nd I have been so supportive to the children. I have taken them abroad on holidays and the Mother has never ever taken them away so what does that tell you.
In her notes to the CSA she mentions what I have and the car I drive. I get up every morning at 6am and work 5 days a week but she lays in bed and works part time and expects us to support her.
The system is so wrong
Penny… you chose to use the CSA….. You chose to collude with these imbociles….. Accept the consequenses like the NRP's have been ever since the CSA was set up…. thanks to the PWC colloaborating to obtain a guaranteed tax free income at the cost of the Child and the NRP!!!!!!And in 70 cases known to date….. the deaths of NRP's who commited suicide because of the CSA's harrassment, abusive and threatening activities and comments made to these very NRP's because of PWC's who think more of having a healthy bank account while the NRP supports the lavish spend, spend, spend lifestyle and expecting NRP to foot the bill!!!!! Rather than cause your child to see the other parent suffering… is that healthy to your childs emotional well being???????? All because the PWC demands money for her own financial welfare!!!!!
Where Voluntary payments are concerned I have been informed that an agreement must be made in writing..Yet my ex husband who owed my £2700 for his debt on loans credit cards life ins..train fair B AND B while we were seperated told CSA the money was for Mortgage and Childcare..This is rubbish as all working parents know CTC cover Childcare. It was not until I refused to carry on with the marriage he lied. He has even stated on this site he paid money onto my card in Nov 2008…uMMM dont think so. I have asked CSA to send me copies of my Clerical and Computer file as they said I have agreed to payments he gave me for debt as voluntary payemnts. I have sent bank statemnets etc..but because my case is Clerical it means there is nothing on THEIR SYSTEMS SINCE Sept 2010. Unless YOU AGREE in writing THAT PAYMENTS ARE VOLUNTARY cHILD mAINTENNACE they cannot be taken in account..
My future husband gave his house to his ex wife..he worked very hard and all she did was spend..He was told by CSA that unless it is in writing the house was to be used in his case then it wont count..It seems that there isnt any consistancy…
These vermin are NOT a government agency ,they are contracted to the Govt. Despite not being part of the Govt, they are able to obtain Liability Orders against people. THe recipients are no tinformed of course,they find out in due course when 40% of their salary disappears . They operate in the same way as Car Clampers and this vile Govt allows them to heap misery on people. They're taking money off me for my daughter who is 24 YEARS OLD… I'm beyond angry and one day I'll flip. Then there'll be a few less CSA employees around to bully people……..DEATH TO THEM ALL…..Bit extreme I know but screw em.
For Rach!
If they can wite off overpyamnts because of DWP staff incompetence and attempted bullying, why should we have to put up with CSA incompetence and attempted bullying! See links and articles! Soz to admin if I am overstepping by posting links, but this is important!
I urge you all to question the ethics and legality of CSA policy on alleged arrears. The game is up!
http://www.supremecourt.gov.uk/docs/UKSC_2009_0202_Judgment.pdf
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/849859-extra-benefit-cash-will-not-be-reclaimed
I beleve that we now have a stated case in law that refers to incompetence and bullying by government staff. I have all ready written asking for my money back because the debt was dumped on to me by maladministration and incompetence. If they don’t repay it, I am pursuing it through the courts using this ‘stated’ case! I suggest that all who read this do the same!
Good luck!
john let us know how you get on, we seriously cant afford to take court action ( as much as i would love to) unless we know that there would be a good chance of winning, i seriously hope that your case wins and opens the flood gates for people like us! good luck i hope you bring them down!